Porthleven to trial seagull proof bags

A trial is about to take place in Porthleven to provide certain streets with a free seagull proof bag. This is something that I have been working on for months, and I am now very pleased it is starting. These bags will hold two or three black bag and I am told are completely seagull proof if used correctly.

The town council is fully supportive of this trial and has helped me decide on the streets who will be part of the trial. 300 houses will be taking part, and I hope if the trial is successful, these bags could be in use throughout Cornwall. However, they might not be free, as someone will have to pay for them.

One of the ideas is Cornwall Council use its buying power to buy 1000’s of them, they can then sell them on at costs to the town and parish council’s who could either give them away for free, recover the basic costs, or add a small percentage onto the cost of the bags to help pay for other green projects.

I still don’t understand why people won’t just buy a cheap dustbin. The do come in various sizes, so even if you have a limited space to store the bin I am sure there is a size for you. Maybe these easy to fold-away bags will overcome people’s reluctance to buy a dustbin.

The area that will be included in the trial are:

Thomas Street, Thomas Terrace, Holmans Place and Bickford Crescent

Detail on how the trial will work will be delivered to those areas taking part in the next few days (week).

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9 comments

The trouble with using dustbins is the contractors refuse to empty bins – we have dustbins which we keep our non-recylable waste in during the week, but we are made to take the black sacks out and leave on the street by 6 a.m. (which normally means overnight – so problems with rats / cats / foxes etc…).
Lightweight bins, if emptied and then left by the binmen, can easily be blown over and roll down hill / into the road and cause a hazard.
What is needed is the council to provide (at cost / small profit / free, like the seagull-proof bag) a heavy duty wheely bin that can be easily moved (important to elderly / infirm), and easily emptied by the binmen, and put back without risk of blowing over. Some councils have provided these free in some areas (eg. Marazion), so why not county-wide?

There was a plan to provide ‘wheelie’ bins for the new waste contract. However, this was not implemented because of two reasons. Cabinet did not want to spend about £1.3m to issue everyone a bin. And surprisingly, when the council undertook a consultation on waste, the response to having wheelie bins was more against them. Which surprised me, as I thought most people would be in favour.

The real problem is black bags being left in the open, without any protection. You can hardly blame the seagull who instead of flying around for hours looking for food, can almost have it delivered to their nest!

Our binmen empty our bins. The rubbish is in a bag in the bin, just make sure all bags go in bins. Trialling bird proof bags is a waste of time, just educate people into putting all bags in bins. Simples…

If the council are looking to eventually spend more money, why don’t they put signs on dog bins saying, “If this is full, take it to another bin located at”. Then maye you wouldn’t have people moaning about piles of bags with dog poo not being collected. Not everybody was born with a bit of common sense. Not many of us perfect people about, are there Andy?

You could suggest ‘ if you don’t have enough bins for your rubbish, & you just put bags out. The binmen will not take your rubbish & you’ll be fined for littering the highway.’ I don’t think the council should have to provide extra bins for the extra rubbish I produce. People have to take a bit of responsibility themselves. Maybe then the country could get back on it’s weary feet.

I am interested in having a chat with you about a product that has been on the market for a few years, as it neatly overcomes the problem facing many home owners in Cornwall – i.e. nowhere to store a rigid bin. Where a wheelie or waste be can be used, they are ideal, but lots pf properties have no front or back gardens. Having faced this problem myself when living in Fowey, I designed a product that elegantly solved the problem. Have a look at the short video posted at

to see how it works. I am hoping to work alongside Cornwall Council to develop a storage container for the trial bag so that it can be stored in a neat receptacle outside the property.

My contact details are alandibb@hotmail.com or 07974 763671. I am setting up a meeting with some CAD designers based in Porthleven, so perhaps we could get together on the same say?

Alan Dibb
Gullgard

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